The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed. In the course of integrated circuit evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling-down also produces a relatively high power dissipation value, which may be addressed by using low power dissipation devices such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices.
An IC typically undergoes a rigorous testing process before it is shipped to an end user. The testing process may include a “burn-in” test or a stress test, wherein the IC is tested under high temperatures. Traditional methods of the high temperature testing have used external heating sources, such as thermal streams or burn-in ovens. These external heating sources are often costly and bulky. In addition, it may be difficult to accurately control the temperature of the IC under test.